YouTube’s New Brand Rules Could See Smaller Influencers Disappear from the Channel

New advertisement rules have been put in place by YouTube on 20 February, forcing multiple YouTube networks to let go of small channels that do not comply with new requirements.

Channels looking to run advertisements must now have 4,000 hours of watch time in the last 12 months and at least 1,000 subscribers, before then being further evaluated by the platform to ensure quality content.

The evaluation being only one filter in YouTube’s new three-tiered system for brand safety.

The regulations come after YouTube’s continuous battle with brand safety issues in 2017 and early 2018. Brands such as Adidas, Mars and Diageo suspended ad spending on YouTube after discovering that their advertisements ran alongside inflammatory content and comments. YouTube has since deleted hundreds of accounts and more than 150,000 videos. The latest being the now infamous Logan Paul, with YouTube recently reinstating ads on the influencer’s channel.

According to Google, channels that will be most affected by the new guidelines make less than $2.50 per month on advertising, with multiple YouTube networks not expecting a huge impact on ad revenue.